PUBLISHER: WIZKIDS | RELEASE DATE: Out Now
One of the frequent criticism of the Heroclix game is that the models tend to come pre-painted and are available via blind-bag style boxes. This is fine for most collectors, but war-gamers like painting their models and choosing their units. X-Men Marvel Heroclix Deep Cuts are a range of individually packaged primed models. They’re prepped to be painted, which means it’s up to you to paint them in any style you wish.
Most of the core X-Men are on sale now, with more being added over time (they are a lot of X-Men). Rules wise they’re created with the most recent X-Men storylines in mind, so rules reflect the various sub-teams such as the Extinction Team and select key-words. Heroclix have been around for so long that the rules have been revised and improved so much that they’re pretty tight. Certainly the heroes play the way they should. Danger is an unstoppable bad-ass. Cyclops is a pain in the bum (and a master of ranged attacks). Magneto is deadly and his sculpt is amazing. Most of the models need little prep before painting and can be removed from their special ‘Clix’ bases. Another particularly impressive sculpt is Angel, who seems crying out to be added to special modelling projects.
Many of the pieces are only primed in select areas, exposing an unpainted translucent plastic. This is deliberate; for example IceMan is mostly see-through plastic because the character normally looks like a big block of human-shaped ice, and his Heroclix model has him dynamically posed riding on a pillar of ice. You could leave this unpainted (it’ll look fine), or learn to use translucent paints and frost effect dry brushing. Models such as Namor and Cannonball are quite easy in this regard, with Emma Frost and Rachel Summers both requiring a more deft touch. Getting Rachel’s Phoenix flame effect right is a fun challenge.
Other models use translucent to add drama to the sculpt. Wolverine, Magik and Colossus look like they’re leaping into action, for example. Other use small flashes of translucent material to show their power’s flaring. For example Gambit’s staff is particularly impressive this way. Storm has both translucent clouds and lighting. Again, how much you’re willing to paint is up to you, but that’s part of the appeal. The gimmick is used sensibly here. Kitty Pride’s model only has a little bit of this (for her pet dragon’s flame) and has her phasing through the floor. It looks great. Beast eschews this gimmick entirely, though he is upside down.
Overall, this a very interesting range and one that should delight model-painters and wargamers who also love the X-Men.
